To practice Zen Buddhism is to train oneself to eliminate hatred, anger and selfishness and to develop loving-kindness towards all. — Thich Thien-An
Zen has no secrets other than seriously thinking about life and death. — Takeda Shingen
The renowned seventh-century Zen master Seng-tsan taught that true freedom is being "without anxiety about imperfection. — Tara Brach
Zen pretty much comes down to three things -- everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention. — Jane Hirshfield
If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing. — Dogen
Buddhism teaches you to embrace change. — Koo Stark
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either. — Bodhidharma
The truth of Zen, just a little bit of it, is what turns one's humdrum life, a life of monotonous, uninspiring commonplaceness, into one of art, full of genuine inner creativity. — D.T. Suzuki
The secret teaching was the bodhisattva ideal, to live for others, for the welfare of all beings. That's enlightenment, not some flashy state of luminosity. — Frederick Lenz
To define Buddhism without a lot of words and phrases, we can simply say, 'Don't cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things as they are.' — Ajahn Chah
Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
Buddha was not a Christian, but Jesus would have made a good Buddhist. — Ray Wylie Hubbard
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires. — Lao Tzu
If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him. — Linji Yixuan
I haven't got any Buddhism. I live by letting things happen. — Dogen
Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand new in each and every moment. — John Bradshaw
Freedom from desire leads to inner peace. — Lao Tzu
I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less. — Dalai Lama
Zen Buddhist Image Quotes
Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.
Zen Buddhism Quotes
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. — Dogen
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? — Dogen
However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them? — Buddha
If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path. — Buddha
Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. — Buddha
Have good trust in yourself,
not in the One that you think you should be,
but in the One that you are. — Taizan Maezumi
Let me give you a wonderful Zen practice. Wake up in the morning...look in the mirror, and laugh at yourself. — Bernie Glassman
In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves. — Abraham Joshua Heschel
You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself. — Alan Watts
Life is a vast, unknowable movement of wholeness with no one separate from it and nothing outside of it. — Toni Packer
Zen Quotes
Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. — Confucius
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself. — Matsuo Basho
Let your mind wander in the pure and simple. Be one with the infinite. Let all things take their course. — Zhuangzi
Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen. — Bodhidharma
We have two eyes to see two sides of things, but there must be a third eye which will see everything at the same time and yet not see anything. That is to understand Zen. — D.T. Suzuki
When you live in the shadow of insanity, the appearance of another mind that thinks and talks as yours does is something close to a blessed event. — Robert M. Pirsig
Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. — Nhat Hanh
Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space? — D.T. Suzuki
The first and biggest victory of all is victory over your own self. — Enoch Adeboye
The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. — Robert M. Pirsig
Zen Life Quotes
The key to finding happiness in this life is realizing that the only way to overcome is to transcend; to find happiness in the simple pleasures, to master the art of just being. — Brianna Wiest
Mind is everything. What we think, we become. — Buddha
Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. — Zhuangzi
When one is seized with a passion to understand one’s self, one has to leave behind all normal life and habitual modes of thought. — R.K. Narayan
When the student is ready the teacher will appear. — Lao Tzu
Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. — Ray Bradbury
Many people are cruising through life doing precisely zero hours of deliberate practice. — Angela Duckworth
A zen master's life is one continuous mistake. — Dogen
Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. — Buddha
Zen is not “attained” by mirror-wiping mediation, but by “self-forgetfulness in the existential 'present' of life here and now.” We do not “come”, we “are.” Don't strive to become, but be. — Bruce Lee
Zen Master Quotes
At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'. — Yvon Chouinard
How many Zen masters does it take to screw in a light bulb? The plum tree in the garden! — Brad Warner
Fish sense, applied in the field, is what the old Zen masters would call enlightenment: simply the ability to see what's right there in front of you without having to sift through a lot of thoughts and theories and, yes, expensive fishing tackle. — John Gierach
The only trouble was that the scripture master, Mr. Ebenzar, was a fanatic. — R.K. Narayan
In deep self acceptance, grows a compassionate understanding. — Sayings
Nonresistance, nonjudgment, and nonattachment are the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living. — Eckhart Tolle
A Zen master, when asked where he would go after he died, replied, 'To Hell, for that's where help is needed most.' — Philip Kapleau
I have lived with several Zen masters -- all of them cats. — Eckhart Tolle
Zen masters say you cannot see your reflection in running water, only in still water. — Elizabeth Gilbert
Zen Master Dogen has pointed out that anxiety, when accepted, is the driving force to enlightenment in that it lays bare the human dilemma at the same time that it ignites our desire to break out of it. — Philip Kapleau
Zen Like Quotes
I feel like Zoom is not a part of Zoom anymore. Zoom belongs to the world now. — Eric Yuan
If you try to grasp Zen in movement, it goes into stillness. If you try to grasp Zen in stillness, it goes into movement. It is like a fish hidden in a spring, drumming up waves and dancing independently. — Linji Yixuan
This is what Zen means by being detached—not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling is not sticky or blocked, and through whom the experiences of the world pass like the reflections of birds flying over water. — Alan Watts
To say one is revolutionary is a little like saying one is a Zen Buddhist - if you say you are, you probably aren't. — Lawrence Ferlinghetti
When a garden is used as a place to pause for thought, that is when a Zen garden comes to life. When you contemplate a garden like this it will form as lasting impression on your heart. — Muso Soseki
Life should be touched, not strangled. — Ray Bradbury
To an experienced Zen Buddhist, asking if one believes in Zen or one believes in the Buddha, sounds a little ludicrous, like asking if one believes in air or water. Similarly Quality is not something you believe in, Quality is something you experience. — Robert M. Pirsig
To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat. — Shunryu Suzuki
Crowdsourcing is the ultimate disruptor of distribution because in a most Zen-like fashion, the content is controlled by everyone and no one at the same time. — Jay Samit
Zen Proverb Quotes
Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun. — Alan Watts
The greatest effort is not concerned with results. — Atisa
The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground. — Buddha
If you do not get it from yourself, where will you go for it? — Dogen
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. — Shunryu Suzuki
To follow the path look to the master follow the master walk with the master see through the master become the master. — Sengcan
Those who know don't tell and those who tell don't know. — Michael Lewis
When you get there, there isn't any there there. — Gertrude Stein
Zen phrase says The instant you speak about a thing you miss the mark. — Fritjof Capra
Buddhist Meditation Quotes
Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. — Ajahn Chah
All meditation must begin with arousing deep compassion. Whatever one does must emerge from an attitude of love and benefitting others. — Milarepa
I'm expressin' with my full capabilities,
And now I'm livin in correctional facilities.
Cause some don't agree with how I do this,
I get straight and meditate like a Buddhist. — Dr. Dre
If you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear. If you let your upset mind settle, your course will also become clear. — Buddha
In horror of death, I took to the mountains - again and again I meditated on the uncertainty of the hour of death, capturing the fortress of the deathless unending nature of mind. Now all fear of death is over and done. — Milarepa
You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too. — Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment. — Nhat Hanh
When sitting in meditation, say, "That's not my business!" with every thought that comes by. — Ajahn Chah
Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind. — Sakyong Mipham
If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is really and truly composed of H-2-O, or even mineral water, or saki. Meditation is Drinking it! — Taisen Deshimaru
Buddhist Quotes
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle. Happiness never decreases by being shared. — Buddha
Follow the three R's: - Respect for self. - Respect for others. - Responsibility for all your actions. — Dalai Lama
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. — Dalai Lama
I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done. — Marie Curie
Every civilization:
Hindu, Buddhist, Confucianist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, all of them understood that LEARNING was to make a BETTER HUMAN BEING, LEARNING was NOT to MAKE MORE MONEY;
It was to make a BETTER HUMAN BEING. — Hamza Yusuf
We suffer because we want life to be different from what it is. We suffer because we try to make pleasurable what is painful, to make solid what is fluid, to make permanent what is always changing. — Sakyong Mipham
If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good. — Shantideva
Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken. Take heed, do not squander your life. — Dogen
All rising to great places is by a winding stair. — Buddha
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality. — Dalai Lama
Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts. What good does it do to brood on the past or anticipate the future? Remain in the simplicity of the present moment. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher. — Pema Chodron
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create disticntions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true. — Buddha
On the day that you were born, you began to die. Do not waste a single moment more! — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. — Buddha
Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else. — Shunryu Suzuki
Learn to be happy in any and all circumstances, whether you're experiencing pleasure or pain, whether there's loss or gain, whether the world loves you or hates you. Learn to be happy. — Frederick Lenz
Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
I've tried Buddhism, Scientology, Numerology, Transcendental Meditation, Qabbala, t'ai chi, feng shui and Deepak Chopra but I find straight gin works best. — Phyllis Diller
Buddhist Life Quotes
One moment can change a day, One day can change a life and One life can change the world — Buddha
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. — A. A. Milne
This is bravery: using the challenge of daily life to sharpen our mind and open our heart. — Sakyong Mipham
Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. — Nhat Hanh
He who experiences the unity of life sees his own self in all beings. — Buddha
Realization is not knowledge about the universe, but the living experience of the nature of the universe. Until we have such living experience, we remain dependent on examples, and subject to their limits. — Namkhai Norbu
As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life. — Buddha
All that we are is the result of what we have thought; what we think we become. — Buddha
Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine. — Buddha
I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go. — Sheng-yen
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. — Buddha
Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance. — Taisen Deshimaru
Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everythiong else. — Buddha
Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely. — Buddha
Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi or zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not of the East, nor of the West....
My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless. — Rumi
To set up what you like against what you dislike, this is the disease of the mind. — Sengcan
You grow, learn, and the more I can sit in silence and be comfortable with myself, the more I can make noise, as ironic and Zen Buddhist and satanic as it sounds! — Nikki Sixx
To be a good Zen Buddhist it is not enough to follow the teaching of its founder; we have to experience the Buddha's experience. — D.T. Suzuki
Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the West, a rare combination of mystic, poet, scholar, and activist. His luminous presence and the simple, compassionate clarity of his writings have touched countless lives. — Joanna Macy
But for the first time, I had a religious identity. I had come home. And so I called myself a Zen Buddhist at the age of 18. — M. Scott Peck
With the near-death or clinical near-death phenomenon some people who are brought back from 'death' have reported being alive the entire time they were 'dead.' This phenomenon occurs among people with a wide diversity of religious belief and no religious belief at all - from atheists to Zen Buddhists. — John Ankerberg
The great achievement of Zen Buddhism, and all of its cultural expressions in painting or the tea ceremony or rock gardens, is a rejection of earlier Buddhist ideas which were dependent
upon narrative - all the mythological creatures that populate the Buddhist galaxy. Zen insisted on the real located in nature. — Diego Cortez
Fighting for one's freedom, struggling towards being free, is like struggling to be a poet or a good Christian or a good Jew or a good Muslim or good Zen Buddhist. You work all day long and achieve some kind of level of success by nightfall, go to sleep and wake up the next morning with the job still to be done. So you start all over again. — Maya Angelou
I'm not really hip to too much of the Zen or the Buddhist point of view, but you see I don't have to be because I just know that they're all the same, it's all the same, it's just whichever one you want to take and it happens that I'm taking the Hindu one. — George Harrison
Apart from the underlying mystery of all things, there is also another possible specific mystery in this situation: Why did I become so interested in Buddhism, Zen and so on? I seem to have a Buddhist voice in my head, and someone asked me about this recently, saying he was intrigued. — Quentin S. Crisp
In the early '60s there was very little reliable information on Tibetan Buddhism. I was living in London and I had joined the Buddhist Society. For the most part, people there were either interested in Theravada or Zen Buddhism. There was almost no one into Tibetan Buddhism at that time. — Tenzin Palmo
At times, Zen does get into some Buddhist Cosmology. Nishijima Roshi, my main teacher would talk about that and almost every time immediately say that it was only one way of looking at it. Whenever addressing realms of Heaven or Hell, he'd also address that it was just a psychological state. — Brad Warner
I came to California in 1970 and so many people were asking if I was a Buddhist or knew Zen theory, asking if I was enlightened already or not. So I said, "Yes, I am enlightened," and then I studied quickly to catch up. — Hiroshi Sugimoto
My ethics, my sense of morality, my work ethic, my sense of compassion for suffering humanity, all of that comes directly out of the practice of poetry, as does my Buddhist practice. Poetry is a very important element in the history of Buddhism in general and in Zen in particular. It was really Zen that motivated me to change the way I perceive the world. — Sam Hamill
There is a director who should make 'Silver Surfer' - he is mentally committed to it. He's doing another movie now. What's most important to me about this guy, first, is that he's incredible with visuals. But he's also a spiritual guy, a Zen Buddhist. ... Galactus is a force of nature, not a being. That's all I'm saying. — Avi Arad
Before I had studied Zen for thirty years,
I saw mountains as mountains,
and waters as waters.
When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains,
and waters are not waters.
But now that I have got its very substance
I am at rest.
For it's just that
I see mountains once again as mountains,
and waters once again as waters. — Li Ching-Yuen
From my own personal encounters and studies with both Tantric and Zen Buddhist monks, I have found them to be humorous, warm, charming, and compassionate. — Frederick Lenz
And finally, be assured that Zen asks nothing even as it promises nothing. One can be a Protestant Zen Buddhist, a Catholic Zen Buddhist or a Jewish Zen Buddhist. Zen is a quiet thing. It listens. — Howard Fast
Studying with a teacher doesn't simply mean going to an occasional seminar or Zen retreat. It means fully applying yourself to what the teacher says, most of which is not verbal. — Frederick Lenz
If you exchanged wedding vows, tape them to your bathroom mirror and read them aloud to yourself every morning along with the ritual brushing of teeth. It's not realistic to believe that you will live your promises as a daily practice -- unless you're a saint or a highly evolved Zen Buddhist. Not where marriage is concerned. But you can make a practice of returning to your vows when the going gets rough. — Harriet Lerner
The three elements of creativity are thus: loving, knowing, and doing - or heart, mind, and hands - or, as Zen Buddhist teaching has it; great faith, great question, and great courage. — Eric Maisel
According to Zen Buddhist cosmology there are ten thousand different states of mind to view and understand life through. — Frederick Lenz
Zen and Buddhism have produced martial arts, because of the Buddhist injunction against weapons. — Frederick Lenz
There's something Zen-like about the way I work - it's like raking gravel in a Zen Buddhist garden. — Chuck Close
In Conclusion
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